Blessed with incredibly helpful, knowledgeable staff, this friendly, family-run music store offers…read morea great selection of instruments and musical equipment. Nick, the shop assistant is very helpful and always willing to offer advice and recommendations based on customer needs and requirements. Colbecks pride themselves on offering high quality equipment and in my experience, their long-lasting products never seem to disappoint. The store is right next to a large PC World and very easy to park close to when collecting large instruments. Its showroom is a little cramped, yet remains inviting and well laid out, and the Colbecks team are friendly, welcoming and easy to talk to.

I've been relying on Colbecks to help me out with all things musical for a number of years. I…read morebought my latest piece of equipment from Colbecks, a keyboard, complete with instruction book on how to get started. The staff member was very helpful and took me through an extensive range on offer. I settled on the Yamaha 450. It's an excellent piece of equipment. It came with a guarantee and I was assured if I had any problems or found it wasn't to my liking I could return it for a full refund. I noticed the shop also offered other services such as repairs, restrings for guitars, tuning and even music lessons. If you're in the market for musical equipment give them a try I'm sure you'll be as pleased with the service as I have been time and time again. As for my piano playing, well it's just not as good as the store.

This is a wonderful, independent music shop unique to Leamington Spa. It sells a range of musical…read moreinstruments, music (of the sheet variety), as well as accessories and novelty gifts for all musical enthusiasts. Staff there have a range of knowledge and are more than willing to help you out - great if you are slightly unsure, or just need a little guidance. A really good place to browse.

Blackheath is almost as grim as it sounds, but last year a small independent guitar dealer made the…read moreswitch from online retailing to having a physical store. Now Blackheath has had its fair share of music shops over the years, all of which are now closed. But the one thing RSG has over its predecessors is a relentless love for customer satisfaction. Upon store you even enter the store you excited by just the window display. Colourful and full of ever changing instruments. Some of the best in store and some of rarer models can be seen displayed here. The selection of instruments covered is heavily guitar, bass, and a section of smaller wind instruments (harmonicas ect) but the stock is ever changing and you never know what will be in stock the next time you visit. The owner Damon is also quite the guitar tech, offering servicing and string changes on guitars and bass for a small fee. The shop also offers after hour tuition in both guilted and bass with a great team of teachers. Seperate courses run for different age/skill groups. Some of the best gear here is possibly the valve amps on selection. Some of the brands on here include: Carvin, Vox, Korg, Frenendez, Washburn and Ernie Ball.

Tiny little guitar shop, tucked away on the outskirts of Blackheath town centre. I wandered in…read morehere and soon enough found myself in conversation with the fella behind the counter, and a lovely chap he was too. As a southpaw, guitar shops are always frustrating for me because you always see these great guitars and good offers, but they're always for right-handed people - not us creative minority (Hendrix, McCartney, Cobain, the bloke out the Super Furry Animals...) The shop is very small and as such doesn't have a whole lot of stock out front, save a handful of guitars and a few practice amps. The sounds of patient music tuition filtered through from the next room as I bid my goodbyes to the bloke behind the counter. What I dug about this guy was that he didn't try and get me to buy anything nor did he take the opportunity to show me how much better on guitar he was or how much more he knew about guitars. I did work experience in a guitar shop and it put me off them and the people who work in them for life, this little place restored a bit of my faith that they're not full of failed, pedantic show-off rockers.

Wind World provides you've guessed it, wind instruments but also accordians, banjos and other folk…read morefavourites. Their stock is really quite impressive and all of their staff are musicians and they also offer a repairs and tuning service. They have everything from big brass horns to a penny whistle and are happy to demonstrate their stock if you ask nicely. Some of their pieces are like works of art with unimaginable hours of work gone into producing these often quite rare musical instruments.

Stirchley High street is full of shops that cater for single-issue shoppers. Amongst them there's a…read moretobacconist, a vacuum cleaner repair shop and....a shop for drummers! Very niche indeed. As a musician I'm unable to walk past without sticking my head round the door. My son is becoming obsessed with drums (and making a noise and hitting things, generally) so he is absolutely fascinated by this place. The staff are very tolerant of my little boy and let him belt the odd thing with a watchful eye. Alongside a fairly decent selection of drums and percussion instruments, this place also provides drum tuition, so if you fancy yourself as the next Buddy Rich, or if you have a little one that is showing signs of being a drummer, you might want to pop in for a chat.

You probably won't be surpirsed to find out that Drums International doens't sell penguins, Persian…read morerugs, Peyote cactuses or other exotic goods that begin with the letter P. That's right, it sells drums! Mostly of the kind that have been a prequisite for rock and pop acts since the dawn of time. By a full kit, or buy drum bits and pieces, and obviously a wide selection of skins and sticks are available. Luckily the staff are friendly enough to talk to, so there's plenty of adivce on hand if you need advice n your purchases.And if all this drum talk has unleashed an urge within you to become the next Dave Grohl or Keith Moon they can point you in the way of tuition. A low key, well run specialist music shop aimed at the cheaper end of the market that knows what it's doing and does it well. Well worth a visit if you're in the makret for some drum bits and pieces.

I bought my first guitar from Sound Control in Birmingham and wouldn't hesitate to buy from them…read moreagain. The shop is very well laid out and big enough to offer a large selection of choices no matter which instrument or piece of equipment you went in for. The departments are separated by instrument and set over various different floors and rooms. The staff are extremely helpful and patient and more than happy to leave you testing or fiddling with the instrument you are interested in without being obtrusive or pushy. I would certainly recommend this place if you want to get impartial advice form people who know what they are talking about.

What no-one could understand in Moseley for so long was why in such a musical suburb where almost…read moreeveryone between 15 and 50 played guitar, did one have to get on the 50 bus into town to get to the nearest music shop when one broke a top E string? About 20 years too late came Shades Music. But thankful for it I am. Because on this particular day I am in need of not only an E string, but also a D string and a G string. Shades have a wide range of accessories by the counter. Guitar strings, capos, picks, its' all there. After buying some green Martin strings I have a browse. This isn't a high end music shop. What is does have is a good range of low to mid range electric guitars, the newly ubiquitous ukelele, and some acoustic guitars. So its a good shop to buy from for a beginner or an improver. And talking of improving, they have a good music school attached where you can learn a multitude of instruments.

I remember getting very excited when Shades music was opening a few years back. It's a great little…read moreshop for somebody who has just started learning to play the guitar or keyboard, and it has a great selection of song books on that stretch along the entire one side of the shop. All the product prices are brilliant for beginners, and the store doesn't really stock many expensive brands. So I'm not sure if Shades is ideal for well established musicians to buy their gear from. But overall, the staff are very sociable and approachable, and they will give you some great advice when choosing the right instrument to suit. You can also easily chat about music and bands with them too, which adds an extra customer relationship ethos. Shades provides a great stock of instruments for the South side of Birmingham, but I'm sure if you travel into town or other areas of the city, you can probably pick up a wider range of items.

Reverb is a music shop located in Leicester city, it used to be known as 'Academy of sound'. I play…read moreguitar, so I can only comment on this, though Reverb does of course sell other music equipment. They do have a good selection of stock and prices are reasonable. From someone looking for their first guitar to the more specialist player, you should be able to find something that suits at a decent price here. My main gripe with Reverb is that they do not setup there gutiars very well. What does that mean? Basically, guitar setup (or any stringed instruments setup) is akin to an MOT. If something isn't setup well, it won't play/sound as well as it will when well setup. My main problem with this is that at many other retailers, things are setup well and you can get a real good feel for the instrument you are playing, which is EXTREMELY important in helping you decide if you want to purchase it, especially if you are very particular about these things like me.